A weeknight pasta that leans on soymilk as a quick cream sauce, built thick with garlic and held up by whatever greens you have on hand. This shelf gives you the protein and body in one bottle, turning dinner from staples into something closer to real food.

Serves 2. 20 minutes, 18 at the stove.

About 550 calories a serving, 15 g protein, 71 g carbohydrate, 24 g fat. From USDA figures for 100% of the ingredients; amounts are the recipe's.

Cook mode

1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and drop in 6 oz pasta. Cook until one minute shy of tender, then reserve 1 cup of the starchy water and drain.10 min
2. While the pasta cooks, mince 4 garlic cloves and heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until it smells loud and turns pale gold, about 2 minutes.2 min
3. Pour in 1 1/2 cups soymilk and bring it to a bare simmer, stirring often. The sauce will look thin; this is right. Taste and season with salt and pepper.3 min
4. Add the drained pasta to the pan and stir it through the sauce. If it looks dry, splash in the reserved pasta water, a few tablespoons at a time, to reach a loose consistency that coats the noodles.2 min
5. Fold in 4 oz fresh spinach or kale and 1 tablespoon butter, stirring until the greens soften and the butter turns the sauce silky, about 1 minute. Taste and adjust salt and pepper.1 min

Note Swap the greens for roasted mushrooms, blanched broccoli, or leftover cooked vegetables. Leftovers keep, refrigerated, for two days; reheat gently with a splash of water. Serve it as is, or grate Parmesan over the top and finish with red pepper flakes if you have them on hand.